Wire frame for garment hangers



Oct. 20, 1953 D. w. DOHERTY 2,656,044

WIRE FRAME FOR GARMENT HANGERS Filed Sept. 8, 1951 Ireven zor' Patented Oct. 20, 1953 WIRE FRAME j FOR GARMENT}HANGERSv Donal(LW:.DohertwGrystahLake; IlliLassignon tm Queen Manufac uring 00,111.06, Chica lltm cornoraticniofillinois Application September 8, 1951', Serial No: 2455693 z-rclaims: 1.,

invention. relates to=improvements in wire fi'ames forgarmenthangers-of'the:=kind in-whichan: enclosing'bag'issupported on the frame; from WhiCha plurality of: garments may. besuspended Within'thebag; More particularly, the invention relates to; the hinged arrangement of the cross bar-andthe supporting hooks forming a part of the frame of the character above described.

Among th -principal objectsof thednvent-ion is.- to: provide: an. improved and simple form. of pivotaliconnection between .the cross bar and oneorr-moreuhooks, torobtain'. greater economy; in the manufacture ofsuch device.-

Aifurther obj ectis-zto provide an improved form ofipivotalaconnection for the hooks-:so as toper mitztheihooksrtoabe collapsedor: folded along and against: the-cross, bar in: such a manner as: to facilitate the-shipment ofthe-framesin collapsed position, and: so' asto facilitate; the assembling ofthe-framesin the garment hangers:

Other; obj cots-and: advantages willfappear from ime to: time as: the: following descriptionpro-- ceedsz:

Thainvention maybest beunderstood by refer encezztothe accompanying drawings, in which'z' Eignre l'i is a. perspective view of a garment; hangerofithekind to whichxmy inventionrelates;

Eignre z 2 is. an: enlarged perspective view ofa/ hangerrframe embodying-my invention;

Figure-=3 zis an; enlarged detail :section taken on line 3 3ztof-Figure -2;

ElgureA-isafragmentary-plan view of the cross bar and hooksshown in FigureB FigureB-isa detail section taken on'line 5 -5 of Figure 4;;

Figurelfi is a fragmentary. plan view of a.m0.d,i-

fiedform ofhinged connectionrforthe hOQkSrI;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary, side view; of. the hin ediconnection shown in Figure-6.

Referring now to the embodimentv of the inven tion.. illustratedin the drawings the frame; lib is constructed f wire of'suitable gauge and rigidity to support the weight of the garment bag, indicated at H. The bag I l shown herein is of a rectangular cross section corresponding to the outline of the frame Ill so that the latter snugly fits within and supports the upper end of the ba when assembled therein. As is customary with devices of this kind, the frame is made separately from the bag and has one or more hooks l2, l2 hinged to a cross bar I3 connecting the longer side bars I 4, H! of the frame midway between the shorter side bars l5, l5 of the frame.

In the form of frame shown in Figur 2, two such hooks with their hinge connections are 2:. showna but. it. Will be understood that? garment: bags: 01" this kind: are: also commonly madewit-h: one or-three=such:hooks=; dependinguponzthetsize ofibagdesired'.

The hooks. t2 arerd'esigned' to extend through. apertures: l5, l-Glin: the-top of 'thewbag when: the device is in. assembled pos-ition; as: shown in Efig ure 1. When. in. assembled condition; the mad on portionof the cross lfiisrpreferablyc disposedz, in. slightly spaced relation below: the. top of the bag-and with its extremezends: bent upwardlyi fon connectionxto:the-Side barstM Miof the frame, so as to facilitate the hanging of the individual'gar ment'hangers. of 'conventional'; form (not.-shown) overgtheacrossbanl 32 Referring now:more particularly tmthahinged construction. fop'th'e hooks t2 on cross: barl3, theilatter. bar is formed with the-proper-number of. zi-shapedi bends: indicatedi atifl; Z0: in spacedrelation. therealongr tmcorresponda withthe num bercofrsupporting:hooks:tozhe hingedzto the=cross ban.- Each: Z shaped bend- 2 0? is: disposed in:- a plane parallel withthegenerahplane 0f-'t-he-f-rame-- l I1 with thecentral straight. portion 21 thereof arranged: transversely off and substantially at? right angles to the general; longitudinal": axis. off the cross bar. l3: Theiopposite end'soffthe cen tral! straightport-ion; 21': are: bent" inwandlyand continue as relatively straight portions; 22 which then curve into: alignmentwith-the. cross-ibaz I 3 on: its general longitudinal axis so that each Z shapeda bend as: a whole; may be considered as arranged atzarr angle Off; substantially- 45 die greeszto the=general longitudinaliaxis of the=cross bar:

Thaintermediatm transverse portion 21 of the: Z shaped bends: 20?- provide hinge supports-- for: eyes 23 which are preferably: formed? integrally with theshanks lza of the-wire hook members I2.

As: will be seenfrom Figure: 4;- the: wire por tions 22, where they joirnthe opposite endsrof the transversehingingmortiiins:Z I ofeach z -shaped bend; form: stops for-=*ho1ding;the= hool eyes 23 against lateral displacement so that the hinged movement of each hook I2 is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the general plane of the frame ID. The outer ends l2b, I2b of the hooks l2 are disposed in a plane generally perpendicular to the axis of pivotal movement of each hook so that the hook is permitted to swing through an angle of only degrees on the upper side of the cross bar as the latter is assembled in the frame.

In order to permit substantially flatwise folding of the hooks l2 against the cross bar in both directions, I find it preferable to offset the transverse hinge portion 2| slightly from the general axis of the cross bar and also arrange the eye 23 so that its major portion extends toward one side of the shank l2a. Where two hooks are used, as shown in the drawings, it will be observed that one hook can be swung in one direction with its shank [2a in overlapping'position along the cross bar and that the other hook can be swung in the other direction with its shank in side-bysid relation along the cross bar and with its outer end partially lapping the first hook. In either case however, the swinging movement of the curved outer ends lZb of the hooks will be limited by the cross bar when the two hooks are in fully collapsed or folded position on the frame.

As a result of the arrangement just described, the hooks l2 can be folded along and against the cross bar for storage and shipment of the frames in collapsed position. It will be observed further that, since the hooks can only be swung toward the upper side of the frame through an are limited to 180 degrees or less, it is impossible for any one, whether at the factory or in the home, to assemble the frame in a garment bag with the frame in an improper inverted position, where the cross bar extends above the level of the frame because, in each case, the hooks must be inserted through the apertures I6 in the top of the bag, which operation will automatically insure the proper arrangment of the fram with the cross bar disposedv at a level below the top of the bag. 7

It will alsobe-noted that, due to the limited degree of swinging movement of the hooks permissible with my improved construction, the frame alone can be readily stacked for storage in shipment with the hooks in folded position and, when separating the frames for assembly, the hooks of adjacent frames cannot become entangled with each other, as is th case with conventional frames where the hooks are permitted to swing through a full arc of 360 degrees.

In the modified form of hinge connection for the hooks shown in Figures 6 and 7, each Z-shaped bend 20a is arched or bent upwardly so that the transverse portion 2 la of the bend is offset substantially above the horizontal plane of the main body of the cross bar l3a. This permits eyes 23a of the hook members to be hinged to the transverse portion 2ia in such a manner that the shank of the hook can be swung in either direction toward the body of the cross bar without interference with the adjacent portions of the Z-shaped bend 20a. Accordingly, in this modified construction, the intermediate transverse portion Zia of the bend is not offset laterally of the longitudinal axis of the cross bar I311. It is also unnecessary to offset the eye 23a from the shank of the hook as is the case with the form of hinge connection shown in Figure 5.

Although I have'shown. and described certain embodiments of my invention, it will be under- '4 stood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact constructions shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made with out departing from the spirit and scope of the in-- vention as defined in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a garment hanger support, an open frame and a wire cross bar rigidly connecting opposite sides of said frame, said cross bar being formed between its ends with a substantially Z-shaped bend with the intermediate transverse portion of said bend extending substantially at right angles to the general longitudinal axis of said bar and in a plane generally parallel to the plane of said open frame, and a supporting hook for said frame having an eye hinged on said intermediate portion, and an arcuate terminal hook portion, the said transverse intermediate portion of the Z-shaped bend including a portion which is offset laterally toward one side of the general longitudinal axis of said cross bar and whereon the eye of the hook is hinged to said portion, whereby the shank of said hook is collapsible into substantially parallel relation along one side of said cross bar when swung in on direction, but with the swinging movement limited by engagement of the arcuate hook portion with the cross bar.

2. In a garment hanger support, an open frame and a wire cross bar rigidly connecting opposite sides of said frame, said cross bar being formed between its ends with a substantially Z-shaped bend with the intermediate transverse portion of said bend extending substantially at right angles to the general longitudinal axis of said bar and in a plane generally parallel to the plane of said open frame, and a supporting hook for said frame having an eye hinged on said intermediate portion, and an arcuate terminal hook portion, the said transverse intermediate portion of the Z-shaped bend including a portion which is offset laterally toward one side of the general longitudinal axis of said cross bar and whereon the eye of the hook is hinged to said portion, whereby the shank of said hook is collapsible into substantially parallel relation along one side of said cross bar when swung in one direction,

but with the swinging movement limited by engagement of the arcuate hook portion with the cross bar, the general axis of said cross bar being offset from the general plane of the frame.

DONALD W. DOHER'I'Y.v

References Cited in the file of this patent" Corwin May 29, 1951 

